Proof that stuff sounds better in Italian is there at the start of the press release announcing the new
Pagani Huayra Roadster. In English? A slightly portentous "an unbridled work of art, intelligence and open-air passion". In Italian? "Un'opera d'arte spensierata, intelligente ed in topless!" Opera and topless in the same sentence - that has to be a linguistic win!
Sorry, you want to know about the car don't you. Lots of numbers follow the topless opera, mainly large ones. 764hp at 6,200rpm and 737lb ft of torque at 2,500rpm from the AMG-built 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 are impressive for starters, the results of that curiously absent from the spec sheet beyond the boast of 1.8G of face bending cornering force, equivalent to the downforce enhanced and significantly lightened
Huayra BC. More big numbers? Well, the 2.3m euros (plus VAT) price is suitably burly but then we come to the smaller ones. Like the production run limited to just 100. And a dry kerbweight of just 1,280kg, 'about' 80kg less than a Huayra coupe and something of a coup for a roadster derivative. Even if you chuck on another nominal 150kg for fluids and a driver it's still well over 500hp per tonne. Through the rear wheels, via an Xtrac automated manual seven-speed gearbox weighing 40 per cent less than an equivalent dual-clutch unit.
We're guessing a slightly lost in translation boast here but Pagani claims the improved weight distribution this gives helps with the "safe understeering response of the Huayra Roadster" for what it describes as predictable track behaviour. Saying that the point is reinforced in the description of the five-mode ESC system, Pagani stating "it has always been a baseline requirement from the earliest design phases that the car must be mechanically sound with safe understeering, before starting the development of electronic control systems". A gauntlet thrown to hacks seeking that
hero oversteer shot for online fame and stardom. Or infamy, depending on how it turns out.
There's plenty of arty blurb in the Huayra press release too. But the tech stuff verges on the pornographic in its breathless descriptions of a 52 per cent increase in stiffness thanks to the combination of Pagani's Carbo Titanium and new Carbo-Triax HP52. No, we don't know what that is. But it sounds cool, right? Ditto 25 per cent lighter 'HiForg' aluminium suspension components.
The Huayra's distinctive active aero is carried over with two flaps front and rear managing the downforce and aero balance. The control systems have been improved and the extra drag of open roof has been compensated for. The covering itself comes in two forms - a carbon and glass hardtop for a coupe-like look and a fabric and carbon alternative you can store in the car and install "in a few simple steps in case of an emergency" should it be needed.
It goes without saying Geneva is exactly the show for a car like the Huayra Roadster to be making its debut and we can expect a crowd of tanned, silver-maned, sports jacketed types with chunky timepieces forming an orderly queue at the stand. Place your bets on the entire production run being sold out before they get there...
